Remote-control apparatus with adjustable gap



Nov. 2, 1948. M. N. YARDENY EI'AL RBIOTB CONTROL APPARATUs WITHADJUSTABLE GAP Filed Aug. 22, 1945.

M01152 M YARDEA/y B OBERTBER/VAS INVENTORS av I 7 ATTO R N EY PatentedNov. 2, 1948 REMOTE-CONTROL APPARATUS WITH ADJUSTABLE GAP Michel N.Yardeny and Robert Bernas, New York,

N. Y.; said Bernas assignor to said Yardeny Application August 22, 1945,Serial No. 612,042

1 This invention relates to remote control al paratus for positioningfrom a control point a load at a remote point by controlling theenergization of a load motor at the remote point.

Apparatus of this class generally includes a pair of conducting elementsspaced by a gap 7 Claims.

and engag'eable by a contact arm which engages the respective conductingelements for directional rotation of the load motor and is aligned atthe gap separating them to stop motor rotation. One of the said twopairs of relatively movable members is manually adjusted to causedirectional rotation of the load motor by displacing the gap and thecontact arm, and the other member is turned by a pilot motor at thecontrol point in a direction to cause alignment of the gap and contactarm to stop rotation of the load motor with the load at the desiredposition.

One of the diflicult problems in apparatus of this class is to preventthe contact arm from over-running the point of alignment with the gapand engaging the anterior conducting element to cause reversal of motorrotation; this over-running is repeated in the opposite direction andresults in undesirable hunting. The extent of over-running depends, inaddition, toother factors, upon the size and proportion of the gap andits relation to the contact element of the contact arm.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide an apparatus of theclass described, means for adjusting the size of. the gap relative tothe contact element, for the purpose of eliminating over-running andhunting.

It has been found that the contact element of the contact arm frequentlyWears grooves in the conducting elements. A further object of theinvention is to provide adjustability of the contact arm so that it maybe adjusted to engage fresh, unmarred surfaces of the conductingelements.

In remote control apparatus of the class described, the gap and contactelement of the contact arm may be arranged so that when the two arebrought into alignment, as explained above,

' to stop motor rotation, the contact element may engage both adjacentconducting elements (referred to as bridging the gap) or may be receivedin a space defined bythe gap, without contacting either of the adjacentconducting elements (referred to as non-bridging).

A further object of the invention is to provide adjustment between thegap and the contact arm which will enable the device to be made eitherbridging or non-bridging.

Another object of this invention is to provide an adjustable gap for thepurposes stated above, in conjunction with control apparatus which isimplemented with a reduced speed provision.

For the attainment of the foregoing and such other objects as may appearor be used herein, there is shown embodiments of the invention in theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a typical remote control systemprovided .with the improved, adjustable gap alignment of this invention,and structurally showing in front view, the gap adjusting means;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the improved control device, in areduced scale, with a modified showing of the collector rings of thediagrammatic illustration of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail top view of the contact arm of the improved device;and

Fig. 4 is a front view of a modified form of adjustable-gap arrangement.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the control device briefly outlined in thestatement of invention comprises a pair of relatively movable members,one of which is a base preferably in the form of an insulated disc, [0rotatably mounted on a spindle 9 and carrying a pair of electricalconducting elements in the form of segments ll, i2, the adjacent ends ofwhich are spaced by a gap 8. The other member of the said pair ofrelatively movable members is a contact arm 20 which is mounted on thespindle 9 and carries at its distal end a contact element 2!, which ispreferably in the shape of a ball, as best shown in Fig. 2. Contactelement 2| is engageable with the conducting segments ii, I! to cause-asoutlined above, directional rotation of the load motoF-designated 50 inFig. l, and is receivable in the gap 8, to stop motor rotation (as willbe more fully described). I

Conducting elements ll, l2 are connected to collector'rings,respectively, [3, H, which are engaged by stationary brushes,respectively, l5, I6 connected by leads l1, l8 to the terminal ends ofthe field windings 41, 48 of a pilot motor 40 and further connected byleads i1 I8 to the terminal ends of field windings 51, 58 of -a loadmotor 50. The. common terminal of reversing field windings 41, 48 of thepilot motor is connected by a short lead ill to the armature of the loadmotor and through a, short lead to a 51' of the source of currentsupply. The other 1 supply terminal 8 is connected through switch as anda lead a to the proximal point of the contact arm 26 at the spindle 9.The" common terminal of field windings '1, 5%] and load motor oil isconnected through a short lead hi. to the arms-.- ture of the motor,from whence lead 52 connects v to the aforesaid supply wire ii.

In the form. shown in Fig. l, the contact arm 28 is selectivelyadjusted, by manipulation of a knob 5 secured to spindle ii, to causedirectional rotation of load motor, (as previously outlined in thestatement of invention), and the insulated disc ill is moved in adirection to bring the contact element 2i and gap it into alignment tostop motor rotation. For this purpose, there is secured a shaft 43 ofthe pilot motor a pinion this which meshes with a gear my secured torotate with the insulated disc. Displacement of contact element ii ofcontact arm 2t away from the gap 8, and engagement therewith with one ofthe conducting elements M, it will. cause the circuit to be completed toboth the load motor to and the pilot motor it, which circuit may betraced, assuming that the engagement of the contact arm at iswith theconducting element ii irom one terminal ll of the source of supplythrough lead 8, to the proximal point 05. the contact arm Elli, throughthe contact arm to the engaged segment ll, its collector ring us, crushto, lead ill, to held winding (ll of the pilot motor lit, from whencethrough short lead at, through the armature of the motor, through shortlead ii and leadlt, to contact to, unattracted armature M (as shown inFig. l) of normally de-energized relay llll, short lead M to the othersupply wire i. Concurrently, a circuit is completed through thecorrespondin winding ill of lead motor ii, which may be traced throughlead i'i field winding 57], short lead iii, through the armature of loadmotor oil, and through lead 52, to the said supply wire I. hin=ergization or field winding Ell oi the load motor causes clock-wiserotation to move the load at the remote point, while energization of thecorresponding field winding i l 013 the pilot motor encrgizes the pilotmotor for rotation in a clockwise rotation, to cause, through theconnecting gears 43g and thy, turning of the insulated disc ill in t acounter-clockwise direction to bring gap it into alignment with thecontact element 2i oi the adjustable contact arm 2t, whereat theaforetraced circuit of field winding of the pilot motor and load motoris broisen and motor rotation stopped.

The aforementioned relay Ellis used. in connec= tion with the meansprovided for reducing the speed of pilot motor rotation when alignmentbetweengap 8 and contact element 2i is approached; where such aprovision is omitted, lead 42 would connect directlyto supply wire l.The speed governor ior reducing speed of the pilot motor is designatedgenerally tit, and the component parts t ereof are mounted on aninsulated disc 6i secured to rotate with shalt ll of the pilot motor.These component parts comprise a swing arm pivotally mounted on the discti are: and provided at its distal end with a contact 64 which isengageabie with the contact 66 secured on the insulated disc ti. Theproximal end of swing arm 62 is connected to a collector ring 65, andthe fixed contact 66 is connected to a collector ring 63, whichcollector rings are engaged by stationary brushes, respectively: 61,which is connected by lead 69 to the supply wire I, and

' by a. brush 46, which is connected by a short 4 lead, as shown, to thelead 42. Swing arm 82 is provided with a weight, so that centrifugalforce will be effective to break contact between N and $6 when the highlimit of speed is attained. The speed governor St is effective to reducethe speed of motor rotation, only at such times when alignment betweengap 8 and contact element 2| is approached, and by-passed at othertimes, so that the speed of pilot motor rotation will not be limited.This by-passing or the governor 80 is I under control of theafo-re-rnentioned relay ill and an auxiliary contact arm 30, which issecured to rotate with the contact arm 20. Auxiliary contact arm Jill isprovided at its distal end with a contact it which may also be in theform of a sphere, as shown in Fig. 2, engageable with a short conductingplate l9 which, as shown in Fig. l, is substantially diametricallyopposite to the gap Conducting plate i9 is connected to a collector ringit which is engaged by a stationary brush ill connected by a lead H toone terminal of the aforementioned relay it, the other terminal beingconnected by a short lead ll to the supply wire u.

When contact element iii of auxiliary contact arm Elli is not inengagement with the conducting plate it, the circuit from one supplyterminal 8,

through lead t, to the proximal end of the contact arm, to the relay it,is broken; hence, at such times, other than when the auxiliary armengages the conducting plate lit), the armature it of relay it will bein engaging position, as shown in Fig. i, with contact it, thuscompleting the circuit Irom the armature of the pilot motcr directlyto'supply wire l and thus by-passing the speed governor 60. Whenengagement is made between the auxiliary contact arm 3t and theconducting plate it the circuit through relay "ill will be completed,the relay energized and its armature M attracted away from engagementwith contact l5, thus breaking the by-passing circuit and causing thecircuit through the pilot motor to pass through the speed governor,which circuit may be traced through brush 5G, collector ring 65, to theproximal end of the swing arm t2, the distal contact 84, stationarycontact (assuming that the speed of the motor rotation is below theupper limit) to collector ring til, brush til, lead til, to the supplywire ll.

Even with the provision of reduced speed, when the alignment between gapand conducting arm is approached, there is a tendency of the insulateddisc it] turned by the pilot motor til, as described, to over-run theposition of alignment, thus causing contact element 26 to engage withthe other of the conducting segments ii, i2 which causes the motor tostart rotating in the opposite direction; the insulated disc may againover-run in the opposite direction, thus causing objectionable huntingback-and-forth. One way which objectionable hunting may be avoided is byincreasing the size of the gap, or, rather, the clearance separating theadjacent ends of the conducting elements. But this is open to anotherdrawback resulting from the fact that there may be loss in accuracy inload positioning because the contact element of the contact arm will bepositioned at undetermined points in the gap. We have discovered thatthe two objections mentioned above (over-running by reason of a narrowgap and inaccurate positioning, because of the wide gap) may becompromised by making the gap adjustable, so that by trial and error theproper gap distance may be determined and the apparatus fixed with thebest gap distance to meet both conditions menidentical to those shown inFig. l.

at diflerent radial distances from the center of the spindle 9. Forexample, in the form illustrated in Fig. 1, if the contact arm 20 isadjusted toposition its contact element 2| relatively nearer the spindle9, the path of the gap traversed by contact element 2| will be less thanthe gap traversed were the contact arm adjusted away from spindle 9. Inthis manner, the gap traverse may be selected by trial and error untilthe best traverse or can opening is round.

Contact arm 20 is made adjustable for the aforesaid radial movement inany suitable manner; as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the proximal end of thecontact arm 20 is bifurcated to form a central recess 22 separatingfingers 23, 24 and in each of the fingers is provided anelongated slot,respectively 23 24*, as best shown in Fig. 3. In mounting the ifurcatedcontact arm on the insulated disc ID, the spindle 9 is received in therecess 22, as best shown in Fig. l and the contact arm is secured torotate with spindle 9 by suitable fastening means, for example, screw25, as shown, the shanks of which pass through the elongated slots 23 24and are threaded into a collar or flange 6, integral with or secured tothe spindle 9.

The auxiliary contact arm 30, used as already described above for thereduced speed provision, may be simultaneously radially adjustedrelative to spindle 9. Cooperative therewith, the conduct ing plate 19is likewise provided with a taper, to provide difierent traverse for thecontact element 3| of the auxiliary contact arm. The purpose ofproviding the different engaging traverse between thecontact element 3|and conducting plate I9 is to regulate the time of their engagement andthus to vary the time that the relay H1 is energized to call the rotarygovernor into operation as alignment between gap 8 and contact arm 20 isapproached and reached.

A further object in providing a? radial adjustment of contact arm 20 isto be able to change the position of its contact element radially, sothat it may traverse circles of different radii. This is desirablebecause the contact element 2| very frequently wears grooves in theconducting elements or segments ll, 12; by changing the radial positionof the contact element 2|, it may be caused to engage fresh, unmarredsurfaces of the conducting elements.

Still another object in providing the aforedescribed adjustment of thegap 8 is that the 5 contact element 2| may be made, by radiallypositioning its contact arm 20, to either bridge the gap B-by which ismeant to simultaneoslyengage the adiacent conducting elements 2- or tobe aligned in the gap 8 without engaging either of the segments |2. Inthe form shown in Fig. 1, the bridging position of the contact element2| would be the position in which the contact arm 20 is adiusted towardsspindle 9; the other, or non-bridging position, would be'the position ofcontact element 2| when its contact arm '20 is adjusted away from thespindle 9.

A second form in which the contact arm may be adjusted to position itscontact element 2| at different radial distances is shown in Fig. 4,where the corresponding parts bear reference characters Secured torotate with the spindle 9 is a lever arm 52, the distal end of which is"articulated to a link member 82, the distal end of which carries thecontact a 6 element 2|. The said articulation between link 53 is suchthat link 83 can be turned a slight extent to change the radial distanceof contact element 2| from the spindle 9; the securement is then madefast, so that the lever arm 52 and link '53 are rigidly connected to beturned as a unit by I the spindle 9. r

We claim:

1. A control device comprising a pair of electrically conductingsegments separated by a gap having a varying width; a spindle rotativelysupported in a fixed relation to the segments and concentricallytherewith; a contact arm slidably engaging the segments; a .means tosupport the proximal end of the contact arm on the spindle; and a meansto vary the radial length of the contact arm for causing the contact armto engage the gap at a point of selected width.

2. In a device of the class described in combination; a pair ofelectrically conducting members on the base separated by a gap havingvarying width; a spindle rotatively supported in a fixed relation to thesegments and concentrically therewith; a flange on the spindle; acontact arm adjustably secured at its proximal end to the flange andslidably engaging the conducting members; and means to secure thecontact arm onthe' flange in radially adjustable positions for causingthe contact arm to pass over the gap at a point of its widthcorresponding to the radial adjustment of the contact arm.

3. A control device comprising a pair of electrically conductingsegments separated by a gap having a varying width; a spindle rotativelysupported in a fixed relation to the segments and concentricallytherewith; a contact arm; a flange on the spindle; means to adjustablysupport the proximal end of the contact arm on the flange for varyingthe effective radial length of the contact arm; and a contact element atthe end of the contact arm slidably engaging the conducting segments,the contact element engaging the gap at a width corresponding to theradial adjustment of the contact arm.

4. A control device comprising an insulating base; a pair ofelectrically conducting segments on the base separated by a gap having avarying width; a spindle rotatively supported in a fixed relation to thesegments and concentrically therewith; a contact arm, a flange on thespindle, the contact arm having a bifurcated proximal end supported onthe flange; a contact element-at the distal end of the contact armslidably engaging the conducting segments; and a means to secure thecontact arm on the flange in radially adjustable positions for causingthe contact element to pass over the gap at the desired widtlithereof.

5. In a device of the class described, in combination, a spindle; aninsulated disc rotatively mounted on the spindle; a pair of electricallyconducting segments supported on the base, the

adjacent ends of said segments being separated by a gap having a varyingwidth; a flange secured to said spindle; a contact arm having a contactelement'at its'distal end slidably engaging the segments; the proximalend of the contact arm being bifurcated to provide a central recessforming a 'pair of fingers having elongated slots, the said contact armbeing mounted on the said flange with the said spindle received in thecentral recess ofthe contact arm; a pair of screws received in the saidelongated slots for securing the contact arm to the flange in a selectedradial position;

the contact element thereby engaging the gap at a width corresponding tothe radial adjustment oi the contact arm.

6.In a device of the class described, in combination, an insulated base;a pair of electrically conducting members on the base separated by a gaphaving a varying width; a spindle rotatively supported on the base in afixed relation to the members and concentrically therewith; a contactarm adjustably secured at its proximal end on the spindle and slidablyengaging the conducting members; a means to vary the radial efiectivelength of the contact arm for causing the contact arm to pass over thegap at a Width corresponding to radial length of the-contact arm; aconducting plate supported on the base having different width atdifferent radial distances; a second contact arm slidably engaging thecontact plate secured to the spindle; and a means for varying the radialeffective length of the second contact arm for causing the secondcontact arm to pass over the plate at a width corresponding to theradial length of the second contact arm.

7. A contact device comprising an insulating base; a pair oielectrically conducting" members for varying the efiiective radiallength of the contact arm; a means to secure the proximal end oi theinner arm portion to the spindle, the distal end of the outer armportion slidaloiy engaging the conducting members and passing over thetap at a width corresponding to the angular position of the secondportion relative to the first portion.

- ll/HCJEDEHL. N. YARDENY.

ROBERT REFERENCES CITED The following references are oil record in thefile of this patent:

UNITED STAWS PATENTS Number Name Date 913,753 Murray Mar. 2, i909 Biebel.....,...Q Decfifi, 194i

